Sneaky Pete
My parents were together until I was 11 years old.
My dad would always be a coach in Little League or something.
Wed put upChristmas lightsand play in the yard with our neighbors.
I could manipulate her easily because she was only a small percent engaged in my life.
She never looked at any of my report cards.
We never had a discussion about what was after high school.
I can only imagine how much that must take out of a teachers armor.
Anytime we saw a carnival, wed stop.
There are always job openings because its so transient, and theres no paperwork.
The carny name for the game booth is a joint.
If we used that lingo, they hired us.
There are three different kinds of joints.
Theres one that is impossible to win, but the prize is really good.
Shooting the red star with a machine gun is almost impossible to win.
Thats when youre playing a lot.
And then theres after hours, after the carnival shuts down.
It was kind of a wild sexual celebration.
Police officers were a very manly thing to a young person.
I got involved in the Police Explorers program.
It almost seemed like the choice was made for me.
And the script said, A young couple is making out on a park bench.
That never happened in police-science courses.
Work, work, work
Im a working-class guy.
I spent a year living with my grandparents as a kid.
They made me stop watching TV, and I thought, This is going be horrible.
But I didnt miss it.
With them, it was: You acknowledge a birthday or an accomplishment, then get back to work.
You never had the luxury of lounging in accomplishment.
That helped me tremendously when I was an actor in my early 20s.
When you have an audition, there are always going to be people who are more talented than you.
And there will always be people who are less talented than you.
Where you line up in that ratio, who knows?
But what you’re free to control is how much time and energy you put into your work.
I would always vow that no one was going to outwork me.
Id keep preparing, preparing, preparing.
And you collect them almost like youre putting together a bouquet of flowers.
Then you go, I think its too busy.
Im going to put some of these back.
It could be your weight, your facial hair, bags under your eyes.
I also always write a stream-of-consciousness backstory to a character.
Where was he born?
What was his economic situation?
What was his relationship to his parents?
I write it out on a legal pad.
The role feels more connected to me that way.
But would you wear 10,000 bees?
I said, Wow.
The year I had lived with my grandparents, we had beehives.
So I was not afraid.
I discovered that if youre wearing 10,000 bees, when youre stung, youre not at all surprised.
And most of the pain of a beesting comes from the element of surprise.
But onMalcolm,one bee went down into my pants.
You never want to pinch the stinger because more venom goes into the body.
So I said, I think I was stung.
And hes at the ready.
I go, My testicles.
He goes, Sorry, youre on your own.
Now, at 66, Im looking around and its mostly friends left.
And its like, Hey, I saw you do that thing.
Most likely I was up for the role as well.
